Quest for the Cure
by flutetenorsaxplayer2008
Summary: What if there was a way to get your humanity back? Would you do whatever it takes to even it meant that you would have to trust a sworn enemy? These are the questions that a vampire Bella asks herself when she teams up with a shape-shifter wolf and a very handsome bronze-haired male vampire. She so desperately wants to become human again, but at what cost? Read to find out!
1. Prologue

**First and foremost I own nothing that in the smallest detail resembles the work of Stephanie Meyer. This is a story of pure fiction.**

**Now this story is a collaborated effort between myself and the lovely Arrowhead1996. This story takes place during the late 1920's. It's more specifically set in the time that Edward is going through his rebellion period. I just wanted to let you all know this, and that this is my first fic that isn't a Bella/Edward pairing (minus my story** God Blessed Texas**). This story will be a Jacob/Bella story in the end, but there will be some shared feelings between Edward and Bella throughout the story up until the end. **

**Now without further delay here is the prologue to the story, **Quest for the Cure**.**

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_It is said that there is a man with the ability to conjure up an elixir that will bring humanity back to any supernatural being that consumes it. Many believe that this man is nothing by myth, that he is just the figment of an elaborate story to give those who feel cursed hope that their lives could be better. _

_Many supernatural beings have attempted to trek over to the Middle East in search of the cure, and the warlock that holds the key. _

_Sadly no one ever makes it back from their journey alive, and if they do manage to make it home the person is either too afraid to speak of what they've seen or they are just physically unable to utter a single world._

_It is said that only three people have managed to see the warlock face to face, but no one knows who the identity of these three people. There is a rumor that the band of supernatural beings were two vampires, one who feasted on human blood and a rather different unique vampire who chose to only hunt animals for their blood source, who made a truce with a lone shape-shifter to head out and go on a journey to make contact with the warlock._

_The group has faced many battles in their search for the warlock. Battles that ranged from territorial vampires to creatures that were thought to only exist in the nightmares of little children._

_There are other stories that the group never made it to the warlock, that they died in a battle against a shadow monster. Other stories say that the entire story of the three supernatural beings is a myth to explain how no matter how hard people look, there is no cure for any of them, and there is no warlock._

_There are, however, a select few who know the truth behind all of this; they know the true story and whether or not this story is myth or truth, but I will let you decide whether or not that is the case. It is also said that the shape-shifter had imprinted on one of the vampires. How this affects our three supernatural beings is yet to be fully determined._

_This story you are about to read is a true account of just what went on during the quest for the cure of supernatural beings. It is also said that only pain and despair is what is in store for anyone who even attempts to search for the alleged cure elixir. Is that true? Well you will just have to see for yourselves if that is the case._

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**And there you have it, the prologue for this story that is about to unfold! Also, know that the 'monsters' and 'creatures' that Bella, Edward, and Jacob come across during the time of this story are something like the ones you would see on the tv show** _Supernatural_** and the vampires will have the ability to compel humans like in the tv show **_Vampire_ Diaries**. I hope that you all enjoy this story and I can't wait to hear from you and see the alerts/favorites that I hope this story will receive :)**

**Happy Reading and please be sure to add this story to your favorites and alerts! **


	2. Just the Beginning

**I want to start off by saying that I own nothing, and that everything belongs to Stephanie Meyer (Which we ALL already knew) **

**Please know that this story will be in Bella's point of view unless otherwise noted in the author's note beforehand. **

**Fair warning that this story will have mild hints at child abuse in the beginning (Bella's father takes his anger out on her after her mother passed away) Please know that there will be no graphic detail and won't last for very long.**

**Now enough of introductory business, here is chapter 1 of **Quest for the Cure

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_September 8, 1926 Forks, Washington_

There was just little under a week until I would be old enough to finally be able to be rid of my father. He is a very short-tempered, angry man; even more so after my mother passed away after suffering for nearly a year with a long-term illness. We couldn't afford any of those fancy doctor's in the city, but mother managed to get some short-term help from our local doctor.

My father took my mother's passing the hardest; he took to the bottle to the point that he had lost his job down at the lumber mill. I know that my father is trying to grieve in his own way; I just wished that he didn't take his frustrations out on me.

At first I tried to fight back and reason with my father, but as time went on I've just grown to remain silent; he seems to finish quicker that way. No one in town seems to know, and if they do they aren't saying; at least around me they aren't, which says much more than the typical gossip.

The other kids at school tend to ignore me and I personally like it that way. It saves me from having to explain my living situation at home, and from them finding out that my father is drunkard.

I had gotten up extra early today to put my outfit together for school. I take extra time so that I can find which of my dresses can conceal my bruises from the previous night best.

I decided to go with the dress my mother had made for me and gave to me as a Christmas present. It was one of the few things that I have of my mother's; that and her necklace that her mother, my grandmother, had given to her. To others this necklace would seem like a simple, plain, golden chain, but to me this was a symbol of my mother.

"Bella, 'you gonna bother fixing breakfast or not?!" My father bellowed from the front of the house. I took a few calming breaths and finished getting myself ready.

I managed to disguise the bruises fairly well with some of the leftover powdered foundation I had gotten as a present from the local mercantile owner's wife. She was one of the very few that new who my father was behind closed doors. She had found out by accident when she came by the house when I failed to show up at school one day. See, her daughter is the same age as I am, and well word gets around in a small town like Forks.

As per usual my father was in a drunken stupor in his favorite chair. I let out a short breath and began to fix his breakfast. I have to make sure that everything he has is to his liking, because let's just say that I would have to and add more powder to cover up yet another contusion.

When I finished making his eggs and toast I made sure to pour from his favorite bottle of bourbon and fill a glass that came to just above my middle and index fingers.

"It's about time you got around to fixing breakfast you insolent child!" This was finished with a sharp smack to my cheek. Thanks to his weakened state his strike would just leave me with a red handprint on my cheek for a few minutes. As if God were answering my prayers it had finally come time for me to go to school.

But then school wasn't that much better than being at home. School was my oasis, it was a place that I could be ignored by everyone rather than being at home where I was a constant punch bag.

I quickly gathered my books and quietly hurried out of the house and off to school before I was going to be late yet again. I'm pretty sure that Ms. Stanley would've liked to lock me out of the schoolhouse when that would happen, but thankfully she was always pretty lenient with me and allowed me to come in and take my seat.

The time had seemed to go by rather too slowly for my liking today. I was grateful that Ms. Stanley didn't even bother to call on me to answer any questions about the previous night's lessons. It wasn't that I hadn't bothered to do the work; it was that I had to run and hide from my father. He had finished off the bottle of bourbon and decided to give me 'a much needed punishment'.

What I had done to warrant his brand of punishment; I hadn't a clue.

When the school bell rang signaling that it was time for all of us to start making our way home, Ms. Stanley had asked me to remain behind as the other kids emptied out as if the building were on fire.

"Bella, this is the fifth time this month you've nearly been late to school. Is there a reason for your tardiness?" My school teacher said as she took a seat at the desk next to mine. "Miss Dawson, you realize that I don't _have_ to let you squeak in and look the other way. I like to give my students the benefit of the doubt, but you're making it very difficult for me to remain sympathetic."

I let out a long sigh and nodded my head. I told her that I understood and that I would make more of an effort to leave earlier to make sure that I wasn't late for school anymore.

Ms. Stanley seemed to believe that I was being sincere in my apology, either that or she was just wanting to hurry things along so that she could hurry off and meet up with Michael Newton, Forks own Deputy sheriff. Ms. Stanley and Mr. Newton thought that they were being discrete about their affections, but anyone with a pair of eyes could see how the they felt about each other. I gathered my books and trudged slowly towards the door. Just as I was about to walk through the front door I walked into a hard object and nearly fell back on my bottom, but thankfully two firm hands steadied me before I was even able to fall back.

"Whoa, sorry about that ma'am I should've been looking where I was going." My gaze turned upward and who did I see; it was none other than Deputy Newton himself. I managed to hide the smirk that had threatened to creep onto my face. I'm pretty sure that he was going to go visit with Ms. Stanley.

I rolled my eyes and continued on my way home. I managed to smile at the kids who were just being nice to me and asking if I wanted to hang out with them. I knew the truth thought; they were probably told by their parents to try to make an effort to get me to spend time with the children who were around my own age. But I knew that they were only doing so because they were either bribed or blackmailed into doing so.

Thankfully I had gotten to the road to my house, which was a fairly wooded area, and decided to take my time getting home. I was more than sure that when I got home my father would either be home and passed out in the chair, or he wouldn't be home at all. When he wasn't at home he was either out at the local pub or he was working "late" at the lumber mill; at least that what he was telling me, but the obvious aroma of alcohol on his clothes and breath said otherwise.

When I rounded the corner, I saw that his truck wasn't parked up by the house, which to any normal person this would be a sign that he wasn't home, but with my father that wasn't always the case.

I carefully opened the door to our quaint two bedroom cottage-like house and paused for a moment when I heard the door creak open rather loudly. I paused for a moment to be sure that if he was home that I wake him up. I had learned fairly quickly to come in the house quietly otherwise I would've gotten yet another 'punishment' for waking him up. Part of me wished that I would've just run away the first time my father laid a hand on me, but I couldn't bring myself to leave him to fend for himself. My mother had raised me to see the good in everyone, even if that particular person was the meanest person on the face on the earth.

I laid my books quietly on the table and looked around to make sure that my father wasn't home, because I had to clean the dishes, and even something so little would make enough noise to upset my father. I was thankful that he truly wasn't home and I proceeded to start washing the dishes.

Time seemed to fly by once I was home, because before I knew it, it was already time to get ready for bed. I changed into my nightgown and got ready for bed.

Sleep seemed to come rather easy for me tonight, the fact that he wouldn't be home until much later may have had something to do with the fact that my father still hadn't come home yet. My muscles were just starting to relax when there was a loud crash that startled me awake. I was just about to go find the source of the commotion when I was tackled back onto my bed. I tried my hardest to scream out for help, but the assailant had me by the neck; making my attempts to cry out for help futile.

"You good for nothing girl, you're the reason that my wife is dead!"

Oh my god, it was my father that had me by the throat. Why was he blaming me for my mother's death? He must think that because my mother had decided against the treatment to help her illness that it was my fault somehow.

I desperately tried to apologize to him, but all that managed to come out were strangled gasps of breath. My strangled breaths seemed to only fuel my father's rage all the more and he tightened his grip on me causing my vision to start to blur around the edges. I desperately clawed at my father's arms to try and get him to loosen his hold on my throat.

As he tightened his grip I was starting to panic.

Was this the day that I had feared would come; dying at the hands of my father?

In a last ditch attempt at freedom I managed to get a good angle on my father and kicked my knee hard against his groin, and I immediately felt my lungs open for much needed air. I took off without looking back and made a break for the back door out of the house. I had just reached the screen door, which was my last barrier towards freedom, when I felt a sharp sting of pain racing down up and down my spine. I felt myself collapse on the kitchen floor and could taste a rust-like substance in my mouth.

Blood.

I had been stabbed in the back with some sort of kitchen knife. Tears started pouring from my eyes as I feared that this would be my demise, I would die at the hand of my father, and no one would ever know the truth.

My eyes widened in fear when I saw the glint of the metal knife, and as my vision traveled from the knife to the arm that was holding it; my father was holding the knife.

He had the knife directed directly over my chest. My eyes widened and I begged and pleaded for him to have mercy and let me live. I could feel my body shaking from the sobs that were coming from me at this very moment.

With no warning the knife came down swiftly and passed through the skin and punctured my chest. All the air left my body as I gasped from the sudden earth-shattering pain that wracked my body at this very moment. It became harder and harder for me to catch my breath and I could feel myself slipping from consciousness.

Before my eyes would close, for what seemed the last time, I saw a dark blur come colliding with my father knocking him clear across the room. I heard what sounded like growling and screaming, but it was growing increasingly harder and harder to remain conscious and aware. Soon I felt my eyes droop closed, and as my consciousness slipped further and further away I felt another sharp pain surge through my body, but I hadn't the strength to fight back.

If this was what dying felt like, I hoped that my suffering would end soon.

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**A/N: And there you have it; the first chapter of this story. I hope you all enjoy this amazing ride we will be taking, and I am constantly researching all the possible monsters and creatures our trio will be facing later on in the story. **

**Please be sure to review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Coming to Terms

**A/N: I am happy that you all are happy with my first chapter of this story, and I hope that you enjoy this one as well. I took in to consideration as to what a reviewer had said about the status of Bella's father, and I will let you see for yourself how things play out.**

_September 11, 1926 Somewhere outside of Forks, Washington_

When would this pain I have been feeling so intensely subside? I feel this constant burning throughout my entire body. The agony was almost too much to bear. What does the monster who murdered my father want with me? Am I some sort of prize, or is this creature saving me as something far more sinister?

I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate on anything for an extended period of time. The fiery inferno that was practically engulfing my entire body, and there wasn't anything I could even try to smother the burning inferno.

Then I heard this blood-curdling scream that shook me to my core. I realized soon after that, that the scream I had heard had been my own. I was starting to find it harder and harder to breathe.

Was this the end? Would I finally be reunited with my mother? Numerous thoughts and questions raced through my mind as it became harder and harder to breathe.

"It will not be long now chéri just remain calm. I suspect that the transformation is nearing completion as I am talking with you."

Who was this man, what was he talking about?

What transformation?

So, I wasn't dying? If that is so, then why did it feel as if my body were imploding in on itself?

_WAIT!_ Was this the same creature that killed my father, and if it was how is it that he sounds so…_human_?

I tried my hardest to form some sort of response, but my attempts were in vain. Every time I tried to open my mouth, at least I thought I was opening my mouth; all that would come out were low guttural moans of anguish and despair.

When would my suffering subside?

When this _transformation_, as the stranger put it, was over would I truly be reunited with my mother; or would I still forever be without her loving aura and caring personality?

Suddenly I could feel my heart rate begin to throb at an alarming rate; making breathing more and more difficult to maintain. I could only manage to get in small gasps of air as my heart continued to pound.

I thought my heart would rip out of my chest; it was pounding so hard and fast. But then all at once there was one final burst of flames that threatened to put me over the edge; then there was nothing.

No fire, no choir of angels, no heartbeats…

That last part confused me the most. How could I still feel alive if I had no heartbeat? I mean, I didn't feel dead, I felt normal; like nothing even happen, as if everything was just a horrible nightmare. I was afraid to open my eyes, I was afraid of what I would see if I did. If I am truly dead, then why do I still feel like I am submerged in darkness? It felt as if my eye lids were weighed down with lead. This may have been due to the fact I was terrified to open my eyes.

"It's ok chéri, you can open your eyes now, everything will appear to be different, yet the very familiar as well. Take your time; there is no hurry right now." As if by the work of magic my eyes shot open and everything did in fact look different, yet still the same. I could see everything around me, but with a broader sense of color. I slowly started to sit up, but my body was upright before I could even comprehend it.

I started to panic and shot up and bolted towards the front door of the cabin I was apparently in. How did I already know why type of house I was in? How was I able to move so quickly before my mind could even finish thinking about it? Just as I was about to make it out of the cabin I was tackled hard from the side and held down with a rather firm grip.

"Stop! There is no need to be afraid I will not harm you chéri. What you're experiencing right now is fairly normal for the newly changed; some would call you a newborn of our kind." The strange man said in a calming tone, and I could instantly feel all of my muscles slowly start to relax. It was strange how quickly my whole demeanor would change on a dime with no warning.

What did he mean by _'our kind'_? Were there more people like him, or should I say were there more _creatures_ like him. Because I was very sure of one thing, and that was that this man towering over me was anything but a human being.

"Wh-what are you?" I managed to stammer out. I'm pretty sure that my face was flushed with embarrassment right now; I wasn't very good at talking to complete strangers.

"You are very perceptive, more so than the others that are newly changed. I should ease you into the life you are soon to embark on, considering the circumstances that led up to your transformation. Shall we start from the beginning, or would you like me to 'sugar coat' it as they say now a days?"

My head was swimming at this point, I mean what was he talking about, and he had a weird way of saying certain things, and he was too formal for how he was dressed. I mean, he talked as if he was from the mid 1800's or something, and I'm pretty sure I could detect a hint of French in the way that he spoke.

But that couldn't be possible, that would mean he's, at least, one hundred years old; and he doesn't a look to be any older than forty or fifty years of age.

"I can tell that you have many a query for me chéri, but I am saddened to inform you that you can only ask me one at this time. See, I normally do not stay in one particular place for longer than a fortnight and your predicament has prevented me from continuing my routine."

What was he talking about? A fortnight, what did he mean by that? It sounds like something I remember Ms. Stanley reading for us during our section in English Literature.

"Hmm, it appears that you have retained most, if not all, of your human memories; consider yourself lucky because it is more common for those like us to have no recollection of their past human lives."

"So, are you saying that I'm not dead? But if that's the case then why do I have no heartbeat?" I sighed and quickly fell back onto the couch I had apparently been laying on during my 'transformation'.

"I say, you do jump right to the point," The man said with a small smirk on his face. "Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Laurent Bonefant, and I am from the city Saint Louis, and if you are as perceptive as I have come to know you, you are aware that I also have French ancestry."

So I was right in assuming that this man, Laurent, was in fact a Frenchman. I was about to further my inquiries of just how old he was, but he cut me off and continued to tell me about himself. He was born in the late 1790's and moved to the United States shortly after he was changed.

"What exactly am I now if I'm not dead and I'm not human?" I appreciated the family history he was trying to give me, but I wanted the question I was most concerned with answered.

"Ah, well it is rather a hard subject to swallow all at once Miss Dawson, are you sure that you wish to know the entire explanation that I will gladly give you?" I just nodded my head and continued to stare at him from where I sat patiently.

With a sigh he started to explain what exactly we were.

"Miss Dawson, there is no tactful way of saying this, so I'm going to use a word that will best describe what we are, no matter how crude I feel that it is. To some people we are considered vampires, but I rather prefer the term _Night Walkers_.

Vampires.

Night Walkers.

Did this man think I was stupid; there is no such thing as vampires, just as there is no such thing as werewolves, the undead, and the boogey man. All of these creatures were just an adult's explanation to get their children to behave.

"I can sense your disbelief Miss Dawson, but please know that there are in fact all of those things you just described to yourself." How was he able to know what I was thinking when I'm pretty sure that I had said nothing out loud for him to hear. "Humans would rather believe that these things are nothing more than stories that scare little children. There are far worse things out there than us night walkers or werewolves, but that is another conversation for another time." I felt myself growl, which oddly enough no longer surprised me. "Now I think it is high time we leave and get you a proper meal. I am fairly certain by now the back of your throat is starting to ache with the yearning for nourishment."

How strange, it wasn't until Laurent mentioned it to me did I feel the fiery ache that dwelled in the back of my throat. But vampi– night walkers drink blood don't they? The very idea that I would have to drink from an unwilling human nauseated me. That must be something that has transferred from my human life as well, I've always been nauseated by the very sight of blood.

"Do not worry chéri, we do not have to take blood unwillingly as the human texts would have you believe, again that is another exaggeration that is used to scare little children, I will show you a way that is safe for the human and for ourselves as well." I was really growing tired of his apparent ability to read my mind before I could even bother uttering a word.

I followed Laurent through the forest and was taken aback at how fluidly we moved through the trees. I mean I didn't even have to think about it, it was like I knew exactly what to do. But when we arrived at our destination I froze where I stood.

We were right outside my house and all of the lights were off. I was surprised that no one even realized I had gone missing. Then it all came rushing back to me, that night my father tried to kill me, and the sight of some monster attacking my father.

"I abhor that you think of me as a monster chéri, your father had plunged a knife, which was meant for butchering meats not his own flesh and blood, into your chest multiple times. You see me as the monster when in fact you had been living with one since your mother died." How did he know that my mother had passed? There was no way that he had known, because I had not bothered to consciously think about her.

"I know about your mother chéri because I read your father's thoughts just as I was about to rip his throat out. I stopped myself short when I heard his thoughts. Though it does not excuse how horribly he treated you Miss Dawson, I spared your father's life because of what I had discovered in his thoughts." My father was spared, he wasn't dead? I was oddly relieved that my father was still alive. "Before we go in search of our first individual to compel to give us some of his or her blood, I feel that it is much needed that you and your father have some much needed closure."

I licked my lips as I felt myself begin to feel some anxiety. This was all too much for me, I mean first I think that I am dead, but come to find out that I am in fact a _night walker_. Then I'm told that my father is still very much alive, and that I am to go make peace with him. Could I truly be trusted alone with him? I am a newly transformed vampire, and am already aware that my emotions are chaotic at the moment.

"What made you believe that you would be going in alone chéri? You are still newly changed, and your emotions are not to be trusted right now, especially with how you and your father's relationship almost ended." I let out a sigh of relief and slowly, at least it appeared slowed to me, towards the front door. Laurent whispered to me to open my hearing and asked me if I could hear _it_. I was about to ask what he meant by that, when I immediately heard the evident beating of my father's heart.

We had reached the front door and I could feel myself let out a low guttural growl. Obviously I still bared anger towards my father, but it was warranted considered _he_ did try to kill me last time I saw him. "Calm down chéri, you do not want to harm him; we are here to only talk to him so that you both can get closure."

"How am I supposed to remain calm when all I want to do right now is tear his neck out with my teeth?" I hissed as I desperately tried to calm myself down. It was strange that I was technically so loud that I should've woken half of the neighbors, but in reality no one was the wiser. "Take a deep breath, think of your mother, and think about how she would feel if you would let your new animalistic instincts take over." That seemed to do the trick and I felt my self-control grow stronger. When I was sure that I was in control both Laurent and I walked inside the house.

Not surprising that the front door wasn't locked; he never did manage to lock the door behind him when he would come home from his late night drinking.

The sound of my father's heartbeat grew stronger as I got closer to his bedroom. I wasn't quite sure how to wake him up, because he was rather hard to wake when he had been drinking.

I jumped nearly a foot in the air when I heard a loud crash come from the kitchen; Laurent had decided to break a few plates against the wall that was adjacent to his bedroom wall, but this got no reaction out of him. After a few more dishes were broken I had decided I had had enough and stormed into his room and snatched him out of bed and flung him hard into his favorite chair.

When his eyes had adjusted to the abrupt wakeup call his face said it all; it was as if he had seen a ghost. In all respect he was half correct. Seeing him genuinely terrified both thrilled me and saddened me.

"Now Miss Dawson, in order for this whole thing to work you will need to make direct eye contact with him and tell him _specifically_ what you want him to do. Make sure that you tell him everything you want to, because once you compel him, there is no reverse, there is no way to take back what you tell him."

"Who is this crazed nut, and Bella what are you doing still up?! You need to be in bed god dammit! You have school tomorrow!" I bit the inside of my cheek hard resisting the urge to dish out some of the 'punishments' that he had given me throughout my whole childhood. He had no recollection of what he had done to me that night. The alcohol had apparently had an amnesiac effect over his memory. I'm not sure whether or not that angered me or not.

When I saw that there was a whole in the wall scarily close to my father's head told me that I had let my emotions get the best of me.

Remembering what Laurent had said, I walked over and sat in front of my father and made direct eye contact with him and just started talking.

"You will stop drinking, you will pour all of your alcohol down the drain and if you even have the slightest urge to drink you will become nauseated and vomit," I felt tears well up in my eyes as I brought myself to say my final goodbyes. "You will remember mom, Renee, how she was before she died. If people ask you where I am you will tell them that have decided to join the Red Cross to see the world. You will start a new life, a happy life; fix up the house and give the outside a fresh coat of paint." I wasn't sure if vampires could cry or not, but I'm pretty sure that I was starting to choke back a few sobs. "Please know that I love you dad, and that even though there were plenty of times that I hated you and wished you ill will, I still cared about you, " I was nearly finished now all that was left was to make my father go to bed and believe that my visit was just a crazy dream brought on by exhaustion.

When I broke the eye contact with him, my father immediately got up from his chair and shuffled back to his room and closed the door behind him.

More tears threatened to fall down my cheeks as I sat on the coffee table. I looked around at the room around me. Laurent took this as his cue to leave me alone for a few minutes. He didn't know how much I appreciated this. I knew that I would be unable to return to this place for the foreseeable future. I quickly went to my room and packed my knapsack full of mementos to remind me of home, and made sure to grab the picture I had of my mother.

After having one last look around the house, I decided that it was time for me to leave. I let out a sigh as I shut the door behind me. Oddly enough I was excited in what life had in store for me, I mean sure I was terrified of the fact I would have to live my life as a vampire, surviving off the blood of humans; even though I could compel them to allow me to feed with no fuss, I would never get used to it.

"So, where are we headed now Laurent?" I asked him while we started walking down the long lonely dirt road. "Well, it is up to you chéri, would you like to wait around your town and have your first meal as a night walker here, or would you rather travel elsewhere? The decision is entirely yours." Well, I would rather not feed on someone that I knew, so I was more keen on the idea of traveling to someplace else to find our source of nourishment.

"Say no more, we shall travel some place far from your home town Miss Dawson; would you rather go north or south?" Laurent said with a hint of playfulness.

"Uhm, well I suppose we should go north for the time being." I still was unsure of whether or not I was even sure that I was happy leaving everything I knew and loved behind me in Forks, but I suppose that it would be best for everyone if I were to just disappear.

"North it is then. Do not worry chéri; you will grow accustomed to this way of life." Ok, if I was going to be traveling with Laurent he would definitely have to stop answering all of my unspoken questions.

"Laurent, could you please do me a favor, please stop – "

"Say no more chéri, I will try my hardest to refrain from answering your inquires as best I can, but please do give me leniency when it comes to doing so. I have gone many a year with no one informing me that my ability infuriates them."

I let out a long sigh and just nodded my head. I was sure of one thing now, and that was that my journey with Laurent would be anything but boring.

**A/N: What did you think? Please let me know in your reviews and please let your friends know about this story. I know that there isn't much to it just yet, but I have a feeling that this story will get interesting, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the one writing it. ;)**

**Not much else to say other than please REVIEW and let me know what you think. I would greatly appreciate it. I'm one of those people who loves getting feedback on my stories. I am writing this story for me, but I want to also make sure others enjoy this story as much as possible!**


	4. A Bump In the Road

**I apologize for the late update, I have been battling bouts of laziness and procrastination. None of you are to blame, and also last week was Thanksgiving so I had been taking it easy. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know in the comments! :) **

**Here is the next chapter of **Quest for the Cure**.**

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_September 15, 1926 five miles outside of Port Angeles, Washington_

Well, it has only been a couple of days' time, and I feel that I will never grow accustomed to having to remain at my full strength at the expense of causing harm to innocent humans; even if I am able to compel those from whom I drink from to forget ever meeting me. Laurent was right about one thing though, and that was that the human blood did allow me to feel rather invigorated. He told me that there had been talk of some night walkers who would rather drink the blood of animals, but that there is no way a night walker would truly be satisfied with anything other than the blood from humans.

I find it rather strange that I am gladly agreeing with whatever it is that Laurent tells me. I mean I practically gag at the idea of having to drink blood from a human being, but when I hear Laurent gently coaching me, encouraging me, to go on and drink from the man or woman I had compelled at that time, I gladly take my nourishment from them. I take great care in making sure that I do not kill the person during my feeding; which is something that still perplexes Laurent in so many ways. Apparently newly changed night walkers, vampires, don't usually have so much self-control this early in the transformation.

It's not like Laurent is controlling my thoughts or actions – I just end up rationalizing the idea of having to drink from another human being with the fact that I need to survive and that this is the only conceivably way to do so.

We were currently staying in an abandoned cottage just outside of the city of Port Angeles. I had so much free time now, seeing as how vampires – night walkers – don't seem to ever need sleep. In between all of the boring time I spent cooped up in the cabin, and Laurent decided to keep up appearances, I decided to sneak away to the local library to read whatever book caught my fancy that particular day. I didn't bother going through the process of checking them out though; it wasn't like I would be around long enough to spend the time to read each book I would check out. Plus I've noticed that I can read through the longest books in a matter of minutes.

People here, all the way in Port Angeles, still managed to pay no attention to me in the library, or even out on the streets to and from the library. I suppose that this was one of few things that had followed me in to this life from my previous one that I was actually grateful for.

During one of my trips to the local library I had finally gathered the courage to look up anything I could get my hands on about vampires. There wasn't much about them, but I did find some of the information quite hilarious. One being that we do not burn to ashes in the sunlight; Laurent had told me during our journey from Forks to Port Angeles that most of what I know about vampires is completely untrue; aside from the drinking human blood part at least. But back to the whole burning with one step out into the sunlight; Laurent had told me that we do not burn to ash right away, but that we would only get a severe blistering over any body part that had contact with the sun for any longer than fifteen minutes.

I suppose that I should be happy that the true myths are false, but I longed to feel the heat of the sun on my face for longer than a few minutes. This caused me to remember when I was younger, and how I would spend all of my time practically playing outside with the other kids, well I did until my mother passed away and I quickly became a social pariah.

"It is time that we travel elsewhere chéri; it has become quite tiresome putting on the charade of uncle and niece in this part of town. I can sense the thoughts of our neighbors, and they do not fully believe that we are, in fact, related."

_Great_.

We would have to move once again. I know that I am still fairly new to this new life that I will live, but I can already tell that all of this moving around is going to be a lot more tiresome than I had first thought. But Laurent is used to this way of life, and I suppose soon enough I will grow accustomed to it as well.

"Why don't you just compel everyone around our home and tell them not to be so suspicious." I of course wasn't being sincere in telling him to do any of that. But with Laurent, in the short time I've come to know him I can honestly say that I am not quite sure of anything when it concerns him. Laurent had told me over and over again, that compelling someone, for whatever purpose, needed to be done as a last resort. It was rather strange to find people willing to let Laurent and I feed from them without even needing to compel them.

I would never understand why someone, anyone, would willingly let a strange creature feed on them? I suppose it's to each their own, but that is just one thing that I will never understand.

"I do not care if you said what you did in jest, we do not ever compel those just so that we can have fun at a human's expense! Now let us go and seek residence elsewhere. I do recall telling you that you still have full control over where we will travel next. Where do you wish to travel next Miss Dawson?" Of course he would have it be my decision where we would go next. I do remember dreaming of seeing the world, but I never actually thought I would ever get that chance.

We had gone north, but it was just in the state of Washington. I wanted to visit a completely different state, anything would be much better than staying in Port Angeles any longer than need be. It was too close to Forks for my liking, and I still was haunted by my previous life here.

"I see, well why don't we go east and see what is in store for us there – oh I almost forgot, you do not like it when I answer your questions you have not yet asked. I do apologize for being forgetful of your wishes."

"N-no, heading east is fine with me Laurent. How far east will we be going?" I knew the answer before he would speak it, he was very adamant that I be the one to decide where we would stop and settle down for a while. I wanted the place to be perfect; wherever we would end up I wanted it to be good enough that we could stay in that area for longer than a few weeks. I know that I was almost, and would forever be almost, eighteen, but I desperately wanted some sort of normalcy in my life.

With a nod of his head Laurent and I both gathered what little things we had with us and were on our way to god knew where.

_*~*QFTC*~*_

_November 19, 1926 A mile or two outside the capital of Oklahoma_

It took us a while, but after over a month of traveling we managed to get to the state of Oklahoma. It was a rather long journey in my opinion. I mean, with our speed we could've gotten to this place a lot quicker than any of the busses that were going the way we were.

Ok, so it has been a few weeks, closing in on almost a month, which we have stayed in one place. I was so happy that we have stayed in one place for longer than two weeks. My only guess is that Laurent had read my thoughts and saw how much I longed to stay in one place for longer than two weeks at the most.

To keep up appearances, and much to my chagrin, I begged Laurent to allow me to attend school at the local schoolhouse. In the beginning he told me that my going to school would be pointless, that I wouldn't be learning anything new. I countered with the agreement that I would help keep our true identities secret if I were to attend school; people would ask less questions and we could have some kind of normalcy.

Today was my first day of attending this school; well attending school as a vampire I should say. Laurent had gone to the trouble of going into the town and purchasing a dress or two for me to wear yesterday. I decided on the dress that was a bit more understated than the latter. I suppose that's what I get for having a man who is nearly 150 years old; he didn't know what my tastes in clothes were, and I'm pretty sure that he never had to make any decisions about what the women in his life would have to wear.

It was growing closer to the time that I would have to go to school, so I quickly put a couple of apples and bananas in a brown paper bag, something that I would call my 'lunch'.

Laurent had managed to get us a rather quaint cottage-type house and it even had an elegant looking piano in the living room, or as Laurent liked to think of it a sitting room. I don't think I'll ever get used to the language difference between the two of us. Yes, we both spoke English, but his is from a complete different century. To keep up appearances he had decided to start giving piano lessons to some of the kids around town, mainly because of me. If he had it his way he would just wander around the town, causing more and more suspicion on both of us.

Once again, I was supposed to tell people that Laurent was my uncle, and that I was living with him after my mother and father had passed away from the influenza.

When I got to the schoolhouse I saw a bunch of kids, ages ranging from no younger than five to no older than I was. The kids were out front playing on the playground, whether it is on the swings, the teeter totter, or a group of boys playing a game of stickball.

"Hi, my name's Jenny, you must be new here. I mean we don't get a lot of new kids around here, in fact I think you're the first new kid since Nicky Cahrtright moved here last year." I turned to get a better look at the voice that had suddenly appeared behind me. The voice belonged to a girl, maybe a bit younger than I am, with strawberry blonde colored hair and bright blue eyes. Her complexion was rather fair, but it was nowhere near the same as mine. I mean, this girl looked rather tan when she stood next to me.

"Uh, yes, I guess I am kind of new here. My name's Bella and it's nice to meet you Jenny. So is there anything I should know about the other kids before I go in there and make a complete fool of myself?" This caused my newfound friend, at least I thought of her as a friend, to giggle. She proceeded to give me a tour of the school grounds and introduced me to a couple of the kids that were around her age and mine. When Jenny was about to introduce me to Nick Cahrtright the school bell rang to signal for us to all hurry in and take our seats.

I was expecting the school to look a lot like the one I had gone to in Forks, but it was somewhat different. The school was a building all its own, the one back home was also the local church on Sundays. I suppose that's how things work out when you live in a small lumber milling town.

Jenny had wanted me to take the seat next to her, but the school teacher had called me to the front of the class before I had the chance. It took all of my nerve to not just zip up to the front of the room in the blink of an eye.

"Hello Miss Dawson, I already had the pleasure of meeting your uncle earlier this week, and it is a treat to finally put a face to the lovely niece that he has talked incessantly about since you both have gotten into town. Go ahead and take a seat at the empty desk next to Jenny. Jenny, would you please raise your –"

"Oh don't worry Ms. Yorke, Bella and I have already met, and I can tell that her and I are going to be fast friends!" This caused the entire class to erupt in laughter, and I'm pretty sure that my face would be three shades of red if I were still human. Thankfully the teacher, Ms. Yorke, quieted everyone down and allowed me to take my seat next to Jenny without much fuss. As class went on I couldn't help but feel as if I were being watched. I tried to look around the classroom without drawing too much attention to myself. I mean it was my first day and I didn't want to be deemed the demented girl so soon after starting here.

It was at that exact moment when I saw who had in fact been boring a hole into the back of my head. Nick Cahrtright, the now second 'newest' kid at this school. Why was he staring at me with so much intent and question?

Soon the teacher had us break for lunch and all the kids raced out to the schoolyard to both eat their lunches and play with their friends. I, however, decided to make sure that I was the last one out of the classroom. Jenny had decided to leave me to go with her other friends to eat her lunch; at least that was my theory at this time. I had just got to the doorway out to the yard when my path was blocked by Nick Cahrtright.

"Um, excuse me; I'm heading out to eat my lunch…" I trailed off as I tried to step around him, but he would not budge.

"I know what you are, what you and your said uncle are, it would be best if you both leave this town now before my father and I have to take drastic measures." How did he know what I was? Better question was how did he know without even seeing Laurent or me compelling someone? I decided to play dumb and pretended to have no clue what he was talking about.

"I don't know what you're talking about; I just moved here from my uncle, my mom and dad passed away from the influenza a few years back and my uncle took me in. I don't know what you think me or my uncle are, but you are mistaken." I tried to fidget as much as possible. This was something that had come easy for me before my transformation, but ever since then I've noticed that my anxiety had nervousness seemed to have dissipated.

"Very funny, but I could sense what you truly are ever since you stepped foot in this town. You and your master, or whatever it is that you call him are not welcome here, my father is like you, in that he needs human blood to survive, but he doesn't' take human lives to get what he needs. He gets his blood from animals." So there were vampires that fed off of humans; it wasn't just a myth like Laurent had first said. I would have to ask him about this later tonight.

"I promise you Nick, we don't intend to kill any humans while we're here. We've just come here looking for the closest thing to a normal life. You have my word Nick, please believe me." I was practically begging at this moment. It had only been a couple weeks, but this was the first time that a city actually felt like home to me.

"I shouldn't believe a word that you tell me, my father has taught me to never trust your kind – you and your red eyes – your kind is unpredictable around humans. Why should I believe a word that you say?"

He had a point there, but he was forgetting that I had the ability to compel humans, not to mention I find the whole drinking human blood rather disgusting, even if I do need it to survive.

"You're right, you shouldn't trust me, but my uncle and I are completely harmless, we have the ability to compel those we drink from, and we only take what we need; nothing more."

"Compel? Do you think I am a fool? No vampire is capable of that ability, at least not any my father and I have come across." He seemed genuinely intrigued at this new development.

Interesting, maybe this could be something that I could use to convince him that Laurent and I don't pose the threat he seems to think we will.

Then I heard something that threw me for a loop; his heart rate had started to increase and I could hear it pounding away. If he knew so much about vampires, and that his father was a vampire how is it that he still had a heart beat? I proceeded to ask him, but before I could get the chance the school bell chimed letting all of us know that lunchtime was now over and we were to get back inside to our seats. I so wanted to question Nick more about his seemingly endless knowledge about what we were, and how he seemed to know a lot about me and 'my kind'.

When school was finally over Jenny came rushing over to me and asked where I had gone off to, she had looked for me so that she could ask if I wanted to join her and her group of friends for lunch. I gave some excuse about staying inside, which she seemed to accept without question.

I got back home just as Laurent was finishing his last piano lesson; a lesson I could tell was driving him quite crazy. I suppose it has to be due to our sensitive hearing, that any wrong note would cause us to cringe in agony. When his student left for the day I proceeded to inform Laurent about my encounter with Nick, and how he seemed to know a lot about vampires – or should I say night walkers. I even mentioned how he still seemed completely human, heartbeat and all.

"Interesting, very interesting indeed; I think it best we invite this Nicholas and his father over for dinner and work up some sort of pact, that way all of our 'bases' ,as you people say now a days, are covered."

Did he know something that I didn't? I mean, why would he bother going through all the trouble of setting up a dinner for Nick and his father if they were vampires like we were.

Yes, there was definitely something that Laurent was purposely not telling me. But I suppose I would find out soon enough; whatever it was that he seemed to know.

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**So what did you think of the chapter? What do you think Nick is? We know that his dad is like Laurent and Bella, so what do you think Nick is then? Let me know in your reviews and I will try to PM you a response to tell you if are right. **

**I will say that this is one of the first creatures that Bella will come across. Do you think Laurent knows what Nick is?**


	5. Salvation

**I want to start off by apologizing or not updating in what may seem like FOREVER!**

**Please know that I am now back and will update more regularly. I was spending time with family over the holidays and got a bit lazy with writing this chapter. I hope that you all are still with me and after this chapter things will slowly start to pick up from here. It's where things start to change for our dear Bella.**

**Here is chapter 4 of our story, Quest for the Cure!**

_November 20, 1926 a mile outside of the capital of Oklahoma_

Today had come sooner than I would have liked. Nicholas and his father would be coming to visit, and I was pretty sure that Laurent knew more about what was going on than I did about how Nick knew that Laurent and I were actually vampires.

I had spent a good several hours trying to pry the information from Laurent, but he remained tight lipped about just how much he knew about Nicholas and his father. All he would tell me was that what Nick was, was a _rare occurrence_, but all that did was give my imagination more to play around with all the possibilities as to what exactly Nicholas could be. Then I started to get angry all over again at how Laurent could read minds, and he more than likely read mine and quickly drew his own conclusions.

Thankfully time managed to pass rather quickly by occupying myself by rereading my books I had already finished. I loved reading Pride & Prejudice, especially the parts where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would have their verbal sparring matches.

I had finished Pride and Prejudice, and a few other books, and just as I was about to start in on another book there was a crisp knock at the front door. I jerked my head up and quickly glanced at the grandfather clock Laurent had insisted on having sent ahead to this house while we made our journey to this new home of ours. I was surprised that it was already nearing the time that I would have to make sure that I was on my best behavior, even if I did want to claw Nicholas's eyes out when he treated as if I were a common thief or something! I took a few deep cleansing breaths and straightened out the creases in my dress. I was about to go answer the front door when Laurent had beaten me to it.

It took all I had not to let out the growl I could feel was starting to manifest deep inside of my chest as I saw Nicholas and his father cross the threshold to home. It was strange that just yesterday I had thought Nicholas was a kind and thoughtful person, then he had to go and ruin my perception of him and now all I could do was think of all the different ways I could torture him.

Then there was the whole him having a human heartbeat that threw me for a loop too. I mean if he knew what Laurent and I were he really shouldn't have any traces of humanity inside of him; that is if what Laurent has told me about keeping our 'secret' wasn't the entire truth.

"Hello Monsieur Cahrtright and a hello to you as well Nicholas. Please take a seat in the drawing room; dinner should be finished shortly. Isabella, would you please show our guests in and I will be in to join you as soon as I am capable." Laurent said. I couldn't understand why he was so calm in front of the very people who threatened to expose our true nature, but then I remembered that Laurent is from a completely different time, a time that put manners over personal feelings.

I swallowed hard and made a feeble attempt to be civil and showed Nicholas and his father to the living room, which is what Laurent called the drawing room. I took a seat in the chair that was farthest away from the both of them. It wasn't that I was afraid of what they might do to me while Laurent wasn't in the room, no, I was afraid my temper would get the best of me and I might do something I would regret.

"So, you don't look much older than my son Nicholas here, do you mind telling me when it was exactly that you were turned? That is, if you don't mind me asking of course."

Ok, I wasn't expecting him to sound so courteous; I was expecting a more hostile persona from him like his son. Speaking of Nicholas I could've swore I saw him shoot daggers in his father's direction when he started speaking so calmly towards me. I took a bit of pleasure in knowing that he wasn't all too pleased his father was playing nice with a 'feral vampire'.

I was about to answer his question when he suddenly cut me short.

"I do apologize I haven't formally introduced myself. My name is Thomas Cahrtwright, and of course you've already met my son Nicholas. I hope that you can forgive my son for any trouble he has maybe caused you or your…sire."

_Sire._

What did he mean by that?

I never really heard of that particular term before. I wonder if it has anything with the feeling I have to please Laurent when he asks me to do something for him. I shook my head to clear away the thought. I didn't want to jump to conclusions before I had all of the facts.

"You would be correct. I am seventeen years old, and I was turned a little over two months ago give or take a few days. If you don't mind me asking in return, when exactly were you turned? You speak as if you were once over in some fancy country like England." I hated to jump to conclusions, but I couldn't help but wonder where he was from. The way he talked practically screamed that he was from somewhere around that area.

"How very perceptive of you, not many pay that close attention to detail. What else do you see when you look at myself and my son?" Thomas said as a smirk played across his face – as if he were testing me. Was he like Laurent and that he knew more than what he was telling me?

Well this would be one more test that I would sure pass with flying colors. I focused all of my attention to details, I apparently had, and looked both Mr. Cahrtwright and his son, Nicholas, over with a fine tooth comb.

Just from what I could see in front of me I knew that Thomas felt that he had to keep his son close to him, not just because of whatever it is that he is – but that he felt that Nicholas could erupt with anger at any minute. Then when I looked at Nicholas I could tell that, like me, he wanted to be anywhere but here right now; thankfully Laurent chose this very minute to come walking into the living room carrying a tray with cups of tea and a decent sized teapot before I was forced to possibly cause a heated family argument.

"I hope I wasn't gone too long, our cook had trouble finding where she had placed my favorite blend of tea." Laurent said as he handed out each cup filled with tea. I was about to politely decline when I saw in my cup what I had in mind instead – I rather dislike the taste of tea, and prefer lemonade to that stuff. "Now, if my memory serves me correctly we have a treaty to draw up making sure that we do not harm any humans while we live in this area. I do detest the idea of having to put my intentions down on to paper, however, if this will keep your manic son at bay from my – niece – then I suppose that I will sign the treaty. What are your terms Monsieur Cahrtwright?" I was in awe at how calm Laurent managed to have this 'calming' aura about him that was really throwing me. I mean we have two vampires – Thomas was one for sure – that we invited into our home and try and play nice.

I was done playing nice, I wanted answers, and I wasn't going to wait until after they left to get my answers from Laurent secondhand. Before I could talk myself out of making a spectacle of myself I blurted out my question that had been burning inside me about what exactly Nicholas was.

As soon as the words left my lips I immediately regretted it. I hated that I sounded like my father in the particular moment. I took everyone by surprise and if I still had blood coursing through my veins I'm fairly certain that a good amount would be rushing up to my cheeks causing me to blush.

"I-I…um I'm sorry for being so forward with my question; I suppose my curiosity got the best of me. I do hope that you both can forgive me." I quickly mended. I could tell that Thomas gladly overlooked my outburst, but Nicholas felt either humiliated or angry – which one I wasn't so sure – that I had brought it up.

"It's quite alright Miss Dawson; I can understand your curiosity concerning Nicholas. I can assure you that he is in fact my son bound by blood. His mother, god rest her soul, was a human, a woman that I cared for quite deeply. Sadly Nicholas's mother did not survive the childbirth."

_A half human half vampire?_

Was that even possible? I mean I never heard of anyone being both a vampire and a human. Heck, I never even believed vampires even really existed until a few months ago.

"So as it would appear my assumptions were correct. Nicholas is a dhamphiri is he not?"

_Dhamphiri?_

"Yes, that would be the more technical term for what he is. But he and I both prefer to think of him both as a human and a vampire. The term _'dhamphiri'_ is too cold for our liking."

OK they were seriously going to talk about this term as if it were nothing? I am still curious what in the world a dhamphiri was and what exactly that meant. I mean should I be worried about him? Was he stronger than Laurent or myself? Did he even have our vampire strength and hearing?

"Before you go and make a spectacle of yourself and not to mention myself, I will explain in length at a later time what exactly a dhamphiri is." Laurent whispered rather harshly to me. I could tell that he was a bit on edge at the moment. He was both annoyed with me, and I think that he was growing tired of being in the same room with Thomas and Nicholas Cahrtwright.

Thankfully the discussion over the treaty was pretty straight forward; we were not allowed to kill anyone in the town for our nourishment. We were not allowed to feed on any children, and if we fed on anyone in town we were to use our compulsion ability to make sure that the human we chose to feed from would forget everything about the 'attack'. I personally hated that Nicholas thought that we actually attacked the humans we fed from.

After some heated discussions over what all the treaty would entail Thomas and Nicholas finally left and I was left alone with Laurent. Before I could even start to ask my questions I had Laurent cut me off and stalked off out of the room; leaving me mouth gaped open in shock. Why would he be so cold towards me after all of this? I would think that he would be pleased that they were finally gone and he would return to his normal easy-going self, but instead he is more irritable than ever.

I let out a long sigh and against my better judgment I went to go see if he was in the mood for my many questions that were starting to overflow inside my head.

When I reached the door to Laurent's study I could hear faint whispers coming from inside the room. I knew that Laurent had had a telephone installed in the house when we first arrived. I still found it strange to have a telephone in the house – Forks was a small enough town that we had no real use of a telephone. If we had to make a phone call we would have to go down to the general store and pay to use the phone.

"I do not care if you are happening to be within the area Matthew, this town is protected by a fellow night walker – yes a vampire – and his son, and have to make sure to follow his strict instructions…I don't care if you did not sign the document Matthew you are not to feed off of any of the people in town!" Just then Laurent slammed the phone down, so hard he could've probably shattered the receiver, causing myself to jump a bit from shock.

I swallowed hard a couple times then slowly opened the door and poked my head in to make sure that it would be safe for me to enter his study.

"Ah, Isabella, now I take it you're here so that I can inform you more on what exactly Nicholas is and why I didn't bother telling you beforehand." He said as he directed with his arm for me to take a seat in one of his burgundy leather chairs he had facing the unlit fireplace. "Now tell me, what is it that you would like to know about dhamphiris?" Wow, Laurent didn't bother beating around the bush with small talk. I suppose whoever that Matthew was on the phone wore him of his playful banter.

"I suppose I've already been informed what a dhamphiri is, but I just never even heard of a vampire and a human having a child together. I mean I didn't think that was even possible – but then I also thought that vampires didn't exist up until a few months ago as well." Laurent nodded his head in agreement and went on to explain the full details of a dhamphiri, and what to expect from them.

Laurent told me that they can either have all the powers of their vampire parent without all of the weaknesses, such as the sensitivity to sunlight or the need for blood, or they could have all of the weaknesses of a vampire but no super-enhanced abilities. I then asked Laurent how Nick was able to tell that I was a vampire (night walker) so quickly. "That is because a dhamphiri has the capability to detect other night walkers. I am sure that you are not that transparent Isabella, and I am fairly certain that if I were not a night walker as well I would have no knowledge that you were anything other than a human being." That seemed to give me some comfort in knowing that I wasn't horrible at keeping our secret just that – a secret.

As the night went on Laurent answered all of my questions I had been keeping to myself, both of a dhamphiri and that of our kind.

After much prying when Laurent had mentioned small details of an old ancient Night Walker legend, he told me of the story that has been around even before Laurent was transformed into a night walker. It is said that there is a man that has the knowledge to create an elixir that has components that have the ability to cure any supernatural being that consumes it. The cure is something that is shrouded in legend and myths. Laurent believes the whole story is just that – a story. I am very inclined to believe him, I mean I know that I used to believe that vampires and now even dhamphiris were nothing but scary stories to scare children on Halloween, but the idea that there is someone out there in the world who is capable of creating a concoction that can cure any supernatural beings was just ludicrous.

**~*QFTC*~**

Before I knew it was time for me to get up and get ready for church. I had promised Jenny that I would come with her to the church service today.

I had gone to church service on a regular basis back before I became what I am, and never really felt the need to go to church. I hated to say it, but I didn't think that vampires were really all that welcome in the house of god.

That is a whole different conversation, and I didn't plan on ever bringing it up to Laurent, who apparently had better things to do than to go and pretend to be a 'servant of god' as he put it. I could tell that he had long ago given up the idea that he could still be human, even for an hour or two.

I put on my best dress Laurent had bought for me and quickly braided my hair close to my head and hurried down the stairs and out the front door so that I could hurry and not be late to church.

Jenny was there fairly early today, but that may have had something to do with the fact that her father was the town's minister. When I arrived at the church I saw Jenny, who was practically jumping out of her skin with excitement when she saw that I had actually shown up. I could tell that she had invited other girls to come to church with her, but none of them, if any, ever truly showed up.

"Bella, oh I am so glad you're here! You're going to love the sermon my father has prepared for the congregation! Come, let's go find a seat, I know where there is the perfect spot to see everything without having to turn you head too much!" I smiled and followed her inside and I tensed a bit as I passed through the church doors and immediately relaxed when I realized nothing bad had happened to me for entering the church.

I know that is an 'old way' of thinking, but considering I wasn't technically human I would burn if I had stepped foot inside a church. I chalked it up to yet another myth that had been just that – a myth.

Once everyone was seated Jenny's father, the pastor, had gotten up from his seat and proceeded to give his opening scripture. I did my very best to sit still and not fidget too much. I wasn't sure why I was so nervous, it wasn't like I've never been to a church before.

Time was thankfully in my favor that is until the pastor began his sermon. He called it, _"The Hindrances to Salvation"._

Good lord if I wasn't already uncomfortable I sure would be during this sermon.

"I would like to be able to say that everyone here today is saved and on their way to heave. However, according to the scriptures, it is highly unlikely that everyone here is saved. Now it is not because God doesn't want you to be saved – he does!" Oh boy, this sermon was going to a rather long one. Now I realized why Laurent had decided to not even make an effort and go to the church service today. "The reason so many people are not saved today is because there is something in their life that "hinders" them from being saved." Dear lord, please help the pastor to hurry up his sermon so could get out of here. It wasn't that I didn't believe in what he said; it was just that I didn't think I could be saved.

"Though the average individual's life, they are offered god's free gift to salvation at least once – for some it is more than once but for one reason the other they reject god's gift and go on about their way headed for hell." Oh boy, I hated when anything, whether it be a poem, text from a book, or in this case a scripture, spoke about you, you felt as if everyone in the room were staring a hole through you. "Well, here in the book of Acts, several times Paul stands in judgment for what he believes and for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now what I want to do with the message today is simply point out some three different types in three different situations and show you what it was that kept them from ever being saved – and then make it applicable to us today." Good lord, when would this service be over with? If I were still human I'm pretty sure that right now I would be blushing fifty shades of crimson right now.

He went on to go into painfully long detail of each of the three different situations, and when I thought he would be finished he continued. I will admit though that what the pastor said does make me feel a bit better about how my existence will go. Maybe there is a possibility that I still have a soul that is worth saving.

"…Surrender your life to him and he will take care of you. It's a promise. Just get saved. You'll not regret it. It's the greatest thing by far that has ever happened to this old country and it will be the best thing that ever happens to you no matter who you are."

When the service was over Pastor Hammons invited those who were not yet saved could come forward and he would later take them all to the local pond that was behind the church and he would baptize them helping them become saved. Jenny quietly asked me if I were saved or not, and I couldn't answer her. I mean I was baptized as an infant, but would god still see me as his child? These and other questions rolled around in my head.

I told Jenny that I had been baptized as an infant, and this seemed to satisfy her and I didn't have to go up to the front of the church and make a complete fool of myself. After waiting a few minutes the pastor had congratulated the few that decided to come up to the front of the church. I peeked between the heads of the people in front of me and saw that it was a husband and wife and their little girl that had come to the front, along with Nicholas.

Wait; was that truly Nicholas, Nicholas Cahrtwright? Was he really standing up at the front of the church? He believed that he could be saved?

That surely couldn't be true. Laurent believes that we have no soul once we are transformed into a vampire that we are beyond saving. Nicholas obviously didn't believe in the same theory as Laurent. I couldn't help but stare at him in awe and wonder.

After all of that excitement at church I politely excused myself and headed for home. I now had even more questions to ask Laurent. I just hoped that he would get too offended with me when I bring up the subject of today's sermon. He didn't seem to ever get truly and royally angry with me, even when I would annoy him with some of my questions.

But after what all I heard today at the church service I wasn't so sure of anything.

**I want to start off by saying that the sermon the pastor spoke about was not my own words, I googled different sermons and this was the one that seemed close to how the sermon would grab Bella's attention that she can maybe live a more 'normal' life, and that she can think for herself.**

**The sermon is from a Baptist minister I found online please, if you are offended that there was talk of religion in this chapter, I can assure you that this story does not center around religion entirely. Just know that this was used to help give Bella a push to start thinking for herself.**


End file.
